New-Look Tar Heels Open at Duke

Saturday, September 8

Durham, N.C. (Duke University GC)

All Day

North Carolina

Rod Myers Invitational Day One

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

September 7, 2018 | Men's Golf

Two Freshmen in Starting Lineup for Season Opener

By: Steve Kirschner

A new era in Carolina men's golf dawns on Saturday as the Tar Heels begin the 2018-19 season with a revamped roster on day one of the Rod Myers Invitational hosted by Duke University.

For the first time in five years and 50 tournaments, Carolina's lineup will not feature Ben Griffin and William Register, who finished their brilliant careers with the lowest and second-lowest stroke averages in UNC men's golf history. Jose Montaño, the third senior in 2018, started the last two years and has the fourth-best stroke average ever by a Tar Heel.

The Class of '18 propelled Carolina to three straight appearances in NCAA regionals and advanced to the NCAA Championship round in each of the last two seasons. UNC's 15th-place finish in Stillwater, Okla., in June 2018 was the program's top finish at nationals since 2003.

Head coach Andrew DiBitetto and assistant coach Matt Clark are in their second year at the helm. They head to Durham this weekend with three veterans and three newcomers – including two freshmen, Ryan Burnett (Lafayette, Calif.) and Dougie Ergood (Mount Laurel, N.J.), who cracked the starting five in their first college tournaments after five rounds of qualifying over the last two weeks.

Senior Joshua Martin (Pinehurst, N.C.), junior Austin Hitt (Longwood, Fla.) and sophomore Ryan Gerard (Raleigh, N.C.) will join Burnett and Ergood in the first five at Duke.

Martin made a strong move toward the end of last season, which culminated in his earning honorable mention All-America honors by virtue of his play in the NCAA Championship. He was 2 under at Karsten Creek after 54 holes and finished tied for 52nd.

Hitt improved his stroke average by 1.02 from his freshman to sophomore seasons. He tied for third at the 2018 NCAA Kissimmee Regional after shooting 10 under 206. That was the lowest score ever by a Tar Heel in regional play.

Gerard qualified for UNC's No. 1 position for the Rod Myers Invitational. He posted six top-20 finishes in nine full events in his rookie season. He had Carolina's best finish or tied for the team's best finish in each of his first three events and played one round at the NCAA Championship.

Carolina's third member of the freshman class – Luis Castro of the Philippines – will play as an individual in the Rod Myers Invitational.

"It's no secret what we lost with Ben, Will and Jose completing their eligibility," says DiBitetto, who is starting his eighth year in Chapel Hill. "They are some of the best to ever play here. I understand people ask about how we plan to replace them; those guys earned that by their play and what did they did for our program both academically and on the course. Coach Clark and I are also excited about the nine guys on this year's roster that represent Carolina Golf. It's a group that has opportunities in front of them. There are opportunities to be the best player, the most clutch player, to work their way into the lineup and become a leader.

"We like our group's work ethic, attitudes and their grit. It's going to be fun to watch them work at getting better every day and chase down our goals. We like what our returning guys can do and we like what our freshmen bring to the program as well. All three freshmen will make their Tar Heel debuts this weekend. We have a team that likes to compete and we can't wait to tee it up at Duke."

The 2018-19 season gets started Saturday at the Duke University Golf Course. The teams will play 36 holes on Saturday and 18 on Sunday.

Carolina's lineup is: No. 1 Gerard, No. 2 Ergood, No. 3 Hitt, No. 4 Martin and No. 5 Burnett.

The Tar Heels are paired with Duke and Florida State and tees off the front side beginning at 8:27 a.m. The entire field also includes Cincinnati, ECU, East Tennessee, Florida Southern, Liberty, Nebraska, Penn State, Princeton, UNCG and Virginia Tech.

The UNC-Duke-FSU pairing features all three of the nationally-ranked teams in the field. Duke is 18th, Carolina is 22nd and the Seminoles are 25th in the Bushnell Golfweek Coaches preseason poll.

Wake Forest won the 2018 Rod Myers Invitational with a tourney-record score of 29 under 835. Will Zalatoris of Wake Forest and Oregon's Norman Xiong tied for medalist honors at 12 under 204.

Carolina was fourth in the event two years ago. Martin, then a sophomore, finished sixth with a 4 under 212.